HYDERABAD: The city’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport has become the first airport in India to roll out eboarding facility for international passengers flying out of the facility. While the option, developed in-house in the spirit of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, is currently available to flyers of select airlines only — IndiGo and Air India — it will eventually be open to all overseas passengers.
According to sources, IndiGo is offering this service on four routes at present – Sharjah, Muscat, Dubai, and Bahrain — while AI’s US-bound flight from Rajiv Gandhi International Airport via Delhi has moved onto the eboarding platform.
“Three more airlines, SpiceJet, AirAsia, and Emirates too will soon come on board this system. Subsequently, even Qatar Airways and Oman Air will join,” said a source. Incidentally, Rajiv Gandhi International Airport was also the first to start e-boarding for its domestic flyers in December 2015.
“Apart from reducing the waiting time in queues, it enhances overall safety and security, removes redundancies at checkpoints and helps airlines improve their resource utilization,” stated a release issued by the GMR-led airport.
Speaking about this achievement, Pradeep Panicker, CEO, GHIAL, said that it gains more relevance in the present scenario of the pandemic. “Automating passenger journey provides a more pleasant airport experience…We are confident that very soon we will get all our international carriers operating out of Hyderabad onto our e-boarding platform,” he said.